Pollan uncovers agriculture's murky ethics

He's been labeled an amazing writer, a passionate advocate and
an extraordinary mind, and for three days he rallied the greater
Madison area with his articulate speeches and down-to-earth
realization that the American food system has become a
catastrophe.

Michael Pollan, an award-winning journalist, spends his life
conveying the truths about the American agriculture system and
industrial practices that have evolved over the last century. He
ridiculed the current American ideology of food, which is based on
dilemmas the eye cannot see. In a frenzy to keep up with the latest
dietary trends, the American populus has grown less and less
healthy by allowing the complexities of eating brought on by the
industrial agriculture systems to take over their habits. With
current health care spending going through the roof, it is apparent
that something must change.

""We've come up with the one diet that makes people sick,"" Pollan
exclaimed on Thursday during his speech. Still, we have yet to
reorganize the sustenance system our lives depend on.

With these concerns grew the concept, ""Eat food, not too much,
mostly plants,"" the main philosophy in Pollan's, ""In Defense of
Food: an Eater's Manifesto."" These seven simple words work
together to show consumers that purchasing and cooking does not
have to be difficult, and in turn, people will discover that eating
this way comes with great pleasure. Pollan offers steps along the
way to help the consumer navigate the maze that is known as our
modern supermarkets.

The first rule being, don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't
recognize. Another guideline to follow is, if something has more
than five ingredients, it isn't food. Or as Pollan said more
bluntly on Thursday, ""Don't eat anything you see advertised on
television.""

He stresses meals should be cooked and eaten at a table, in the
company of a family member or friend. The issue with fast food is
that ""by definition, you're meant to eat quickly and usually in
isolation,"" Pollan said in an exclusive interview. He encourages
people to eat a home-cooked meal four to five nights a week.

As part of a college campus with a student body of about 40,000
students, it is difficult to fathom ever having time to make dinner
and eat it sitting at the table, but the importance of this act is
insurmountable. With the growing viewpoint among students of eating
as a chore, it is important to incorporate the ritual of cooking
into their weekly schedule. Even so, ""you're not going to do it
four, five days a week,"" Pollan said in the interview, ""student
life doesn't work that way."" So for students, rule number one is
to eat a home-cooked meal once a week.

Life in America moves at an extremely fast pace, and it has become
increasingly difficult to find free time in day-to-day activities.
This issue was addressed at the Go Big Read panel on Friday. ""I
really think it's about what we value,"" Pollan exclaimed. ""In the
last 10 years we've found two hours to spend on the Internet [each
day]."" If this time was spent on cooking, making one meal a week
would be a breeze.

Rule number two is to slow down and take time to do things that
relieve stress: cook a meal, volunteer, or go to the farmers'
market. ""It is very exciting to see college students getting
engaged by this issue,"" Pollan said. Not only does this help the
movement, ""it is also great for your sanity, to work in a garden
for an hour a week."" This is even doable before game days. The
Dane County Farmers' Market is open, rain or shine, every Saturday
from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. indoors or out.

With crucial lifestyle changes being demanded, it is extremely
important to avoid getting lost in the polarization of this fight.
""It is true I have profiled certain kinds of farmers,"" Pollan
said during the Go Big Read panel. ""It wasn't necessarily because
I thought their model was the best, it was because it was an
extreme version.""

""I prefer to think that our problem has been trying to do things
one way,"" Pollan argued. ""I firmly believe that we need to let a
thousand flowers bloom. What our goal is here is to not put all our
eggs in one basket, that gets you into trouble, no matter what your
doing."" He argues efficiency is not the answer, which can
sometimes lead to an extremely brittle system.

Reform in our current agriculture system—if not only for the sake
of our health, but for the sake of climate change and the
environment—appears necessary. Twenty percent of fossil fuels used
by the U.S. go into our fields and our food system. ""From the farm
to the plate,"" contributes more greenhouse gases than any other
industry. Half a century ago, it took one calorie of fossil fuel to
produce two calories of food energy. Now it takes 10 calories of
fossil fuel to produce one calorie of food energy, a trend far from
sustainable. At the Food For Thought Festival, held this past
Saturday, Pollan declared, ""When we eat from this modern
industrial fast-food system, make no mistakes, we are drinking oil
and spewing greenhouse gases.""

This is where we come in. Our student body, a group of consumers
who will face these issues for the rest of our lives, must reform
the current food system in hopes to better the health of the nation
and the world, and reverse the damage done. In the interviews
Pollan stressed that one person can make a significant difference,
""This is one issue where the individual voting with his or her
fork can make a difference, and we've seen that.""

If consumers change their demands, the food system will have to
follow. Madison is an important front in this movement. Although
there is a lot to be done politically, students can make a
difference by supporting sustainable businesses.

Rule number three: support regional food and family farms as much
as you can. This support will eventually turn into a transformation
of the industrial agriculture system that so badly needs to be
changed.

In the end, a ground level change is the best place to start. And
what better place to achieve this than right here on campus, a
university full of people who stand up for their beliefs? So the
next time you are faced with a decision, remember the three rules
above and ""vote with your fork"" for a better tomorrow.